Going Home
by MusicGeek764
Summary: 2012 'verse. Takes place before the series starts: Ten-year-old April O'Neil accidentally falls down the sewers trying to get home. But, help comes from an unexpected source.


_Hello peoples! Welcome to my first time tackling a TMNT fic! Just a one-shot for right now, but maybe I'll try some bigger projects in the future! Anywho, I hope you all enjoy this. Reviews are all ways appreciated, unless the burn. (AKA, no flames, but I'm open to constructive criticism) Read on! _

**Disclaimer: **_Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is owned by Viacom/Nickelodeon. I own nothing, and I'm not making any profit off of this. Please don't sue me, but if you do, I'll guilt trip you by wearing my Donnie hat and gush about TMNT all during the case. ;)_

* * *

Going Home

April O'Neal shivered as the wind blew against her skin. She wished her yellow jacket did a better job of keeping her warm. How come New York City was so cold in March?

April felt homesick for her old house in North Carolina. She knew that moving to New York was best for her scientist dad, who had been offered a position at a highly regarded government research facility. But, she missed her friends, her house, as they were now in an apartment building, and the sun. They'd only been here two weeks, and it had been cloudy every day.

She looked around, and realized that she had _no_ idea where she was. Her dad had been bringing her home from school the past few days, but he had to work late today. She promised him that she could walk home; she was 10, and the school wasn't all that far from their apartment, but she was starting to regret it. This place looked really shady.

April kept walking, hoping that she could find a nice person or a nicer part of the city to get some help. But, she saw nothing but old, graffiti covered buildings. Though April loved her yellow jacket, as it was her favorite color, she was starting to feel like it made her stand out too much.

Suddenly, she heard a noise come from an alley way across the street. Panicked, April ran into an alley way on her side and tripped over a manhole cover lying by the entrance to the sewer. As she stood back up, her left foot slipped into the sewer. She let out a cry as she fell in, but managed to grab on to the edge of the manhole.

"Help!" April called out, but she was too nervous to yell too loud. She felt her fingers slip, and she tried in vain to hold on. But, she slipped, yelling as she fell down.

April fell hard on her left side. She got up, and made sure that her arm wasn't broken, then checked her ribs. Certain that nothing was broken, she stood up, then almost fell over as her left foot gave out. She sat back down, checking her ankle and leg. Wiggling her toes proved that nothing was broken, but as she felt her ankle, she could tell she had twisted it going down.

She stood up again, leaning on the sewer walls for support. She looked up at the manhole she'd fallen in, and was shocked to find that the ladder was missing.

She was stuck in the sewers of an unfamiliar city with no way out and no cell phone, as her dad hadn't gotten them set up on a new data plan yet. April wasn't someone who cried easily, but she felt a few tears form in the corners of her eyes. "Help..." She whispered, not expecting anyone to come.

* * *

Donnie peered around the corner of the sewer wall, looking at the human girl who'd suddenly appeared in the sewer. Humans didn't come down often, but Donnie had been out scavenging for spare parts when she fell in. He knew he should leave, but he found himself watching the girl. She looked to be about 10, which was how old he was, and with her fiery red hair and yellow jacket, she looked kinda cute. Donnie pushed that thought out quickly. Girls were icky, or at least that's what Mikey said, and Mikey knew a lot about humans. He watched the most TV out of the four of them.

He was about to leave and tell Master Splinter, but something stopped him in his tracks. The girl, in a whisper, had called for help, and she looked really scared. He wanted to help her somehow, but he remembered what Master Splinter always told them: "Whatever you do, do _not_ let any humans see you. To humans, you are strange and different, and humans react to strange and different things with two emotions; fear and anger."

Considering her age, she might not get angry, but fear was almost certain. She was scared enough as it is, and Donnie knew what he was. Seeing a mutant turtle would certainly confuse her more. But, he couldn't just leave her there alone with no way back up to the surface.

Suddenly, the idea hit him. He ran back to the lair, grateful that Master Splinter was in his room, and that Raph, Leo, and Mikey were all crowded around the TV. Leo had found some new cartoon and he had been trying to get everyone hooked on it too. Donnie ran to his room, which doubled as his laboratory, and found exactly what he was looking for; the remote control car he'd fixed.

A few days ago, the toy had fallen down into the sewer. Not only did Donnie fix it, he made some modifications, including putting a screen on it where you could type messages from the remote control and it would show up on the screen. He'd already tested it, so he was certain that it wasn't going to blow up.

He ran back out of the lair and, sure enough, the girl was still standing there, leaning on the wall for support. He quickly typed in message, then drove the car out to the girl.

* * *

April stood there, still too frozen in fear to move, when she heard the sound of a remote control car. She looked down, and sure enough, here came a toy car. It looked like someone had messed with it, because they had a bunch of new technology attached to it. The biggest difference was the small, digital screen that had a message written across it.

"Hello there," April stared at the screen, then started looking around. A small ping came from the car, and she looked. There was a new message. "I'm standing nearby, so just talk aloud. I'll hear you. Also, what's your name?"

"Uh... Hi. I'm April," April said, a little cautious. "Why can't you come out and talk to me? And why are you down here in the first place? And before you ask, I fell."

A few seconds passed before another ping came from the car. "The answers to both questions are very long stories that I don't feel like telling. I'm just here to help."

"I could use some help. I'm new here, and I got lost going home, and then I accidentally fell down here. I don't know how to get home, and my ankle hurts," April said, feeling kinda stupid talking to someone who wasn't in front of her face. But, someone was listing because another message came up.

"Be right back. Stay put." April read the message, before the car sped back off.

Meanwhile, Donnie ran back to the lair, found the first aid kit, then found a crutch. Pulling the metal part to about what he figured her height to be, he ran back to the car, carefully placed the crutch on the car, and drove it back out April, typing a new message as he did so.

The car returned a few minutes later, a crutch sitting on top of it. April picked it up, and saw that it was the perfect height. She leaned on it, and read the new message. "Here you go!"

"Thank you," She called out. The car pinged again.

"You're welcome!" There was a few seconds pause, then a new message popped up.

"You said you got lost going home. What street do you live on?"

April thought for a second. "Green Boulevard,"

The car pinged again. "I know where that is! I'll get you home, just follow the car."

"Okay," April said, and the car began to drive. April followed the car, grateful that whoever was controlling it was going at a good pace for someone leaning on a crutch.

Donnie followed from a safe distance, keeping himself hidden. He might have never been up to the surface, but Master Splinter made them learn a few different entrances and exits out of the sewer in case of an emergency, and the Green Boulevard manhole happened to be one of those emergency exits.

"How do you know you way around here so well?" April found herself asking. Donnie thought for a second on how to respond, then quickly typed a message.

"I spend a lot of time down here."

"That's kinda weird."

"You get used to it." April read the new message, shrugged, and kept hobbling along.

Donnie wished that he could actually talk to April. Mikey was wrong; girl's weren't that bad. This one seemed rather nice. But, he wasn't going to break Master Splinter's rules. _Maybe one day, we'll be able to talk to humans. Maybe then we can be friends._

The car stopped suddenly by a manhole, which gratefully, had a ladder. A new message popped up on the screen. "This ladder leads up to Green Boulevard. Don't worry about moving the manhole cover, they're rather light."

April looked up at the cover. She was almost home. She looked at the car. "Thank you so much."

A message came back. "It's no problem. Just, don't tell anyone about this, okay?"

April found that slightly strange, but decided that this guy must have his reasons. He had led her home, so he must be nice. "Okay, I promise."

"Thank you," The screen replied.

April began to climb up the ladder, the crutch tucked under her arm. She was planning on telling her dad that she had tripped at school, and that the school nurse had given her the crutch.

About half way up, she looked down, and saw that the car was still there. "Maybe, one day, we can meet in person," She called down the car, hoping that the person controlling it would hear her. She then quickly finished climbing the ladder, pushed the manhole cover off, then climbed back to the surface, taking care to put the manhole cover back.

Donnie walked over to the car and picked it up. He stared up at the manhole. "I'd like that very much."


End file.
